Dark Side of the Moon
by Brass Tacked
Summary: Sasuke left and Naruto's close to his breaking point. A callous sentence spoken by a Shinobi causes him to snap. Will the only person able to save Naruto make it in time, will he even care? SasuNaru


**A/N:** This is my first _Naruto_ fic., just thought that I should warn you.

**Warnings:** SasuNaru yaoi, this means two men in an adult relationship, if you don't like then don't read. Some OOCness, I'm sure, especially on Sasuke's part. **EPISODE 134 SPOILERS**

**Disclaimer:**Not mine, if it was Shikamaru would have a much larger part and I would be able to buy a shirt with his face on it.

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Starting Over_

The sun's heat pounded down on the forest, humidity made the air thick. Hiding in the shaded canopy of a tree was one teenager. He sat immobile, an arm propped across his knee and his head down. The roughness of the bark dug into his back and occasionally a slight breeze would persuade red and yellow leaves to flutter to the ground. One landed in the teen's hair and settled into its new home. Then the arm lifted off the bent knee and a pale hand swept the bright yellow leaf off of the black hairs. Dark eyes watched the offending object fall the rest of the way to the ground until it landed among a pile of its fellows. A sneer marred the handsome face when he saw that the leaf shone brighter than the ones that surrounded it. Anger filled him when he found that he could not take his eyes off of the yellow leaf. He jumped down from the branch, his foot landing on the perturbing foliage. The twist from his ankle as he turned ripped the delicate object. As he walked away the bright, yellow leaf was left behind, broken and torn.

……….

His cheerful voice could be heard echoing through the streets and alleyways of the village. A few of the citizens started to laugh about the antics of the young and then they realized just who was at the center of the commotion. The laughter faded and was replaced with scowls and mutters. Narrowed eyes glanced around, searching for the one that they hated. Looking for the demon-kid. Some muttered to each other about all of the evil things that the boy had supposedly done. Others cursed him under their breaths, a few doing it out loud for everyone to hear.

There were only a select few that welcomed the sound of Naruto's laughter. Small smiles crept on to lips, minds uttered words of thanks that he was still the same, obnoxious ninja that he had always been. They looked into blue eyes, bright with life and happiness, and never once saw the pain that was buried deep inside. They did not know about the guilt that ate away at his soul or of the lost love that was destroying his heart. They did not know that every time he closed his eyes all he saw was the retreating form of the one person that meant everything to him. He was so close to his breaking point and no one noticed.

Then it happened one day, he snapped. The morning had started out innocently enough, he had met with Kiba (and Akamaru, of course), Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino to train. After a few hours had passed with various people coming and going from the group, Naruto's belly had started to gurgle in the unhappy way that it did when he was hungry. He had remembered the free ramen ticket that he had hidden under his forehead protector for safe keeping and then announced to the group in his normal loud manner where he was going. Chouji, who had been eating a bag of chips under a tree for the last half hour, volunteered to join him and so did Shikamaru. Soon the whole group had decided to come along.

They were almost to Ichiraku when it happened. They had been passing a group of Shinobi that were waiting outside the village's bookstore, presumably waiting for it to open so they could buy the newest edition of _Icha Icha Paradise_. When they say Naruto walking past they started to talk in pseudo whispers. They said several hateful things, most of which the group of friends did their best to ignore. Then one of the Shinobi said one fateful sentence, "Why did we have to get stuck with the demon kid. Why couldn't he leave instead of Uchiha?" The only indicator of what was about to happen was a slight twitch above a blue eye. Then the eye changed color and red chakra started flowing without any semblance of control. The fragile hold that Naruto had kept over his emotions had snapped.

When he emerged from his Kyuubi form he found himself in The Valley of the End. Then the images of what he had done started to assault his already weakened mind. He could still smell the blood of those he had wounded and possibly killed. He wondered what had happened to those that he had called his friends, hoping that they had not been any of the victims that had crossed his path. The knowledge of his actions and the possibilities of what he might have done overloaded his sensory system. He collapsed onto his knees, his head fell forward, and his arms rested uselessly against his sides. Soon there was a quick drip of salty water falling to the ground below him. Rivulets of the tears steamed down his checks.

He did not notice the passing of time as he sat there. Eventually his tears dried and the sun began to set. Still he did not move. His entire being was dragged into a spiral of darkness. When he finally moved again it was only to clutch his chest, to feel the place that his heart should have been. He could still feel the muscle beating there at a strong and steady pace, but that did nothing to explain the emptiness that he felt inside.

………

Sasuke approached the stone edifice. The thunderous roar of water crashing over a cliff assaulted his ears. He returned to this spot often, always to contemplate his mistakes. It was the one place where he was never alone. Even though there was never anyone here, he was always accompanied by a ghost from his past. To him, Naruto was always here. His mind supplied the image of the blonde and blended it with the landscape that had been scarred by the fight that had occurred there a year ago. He gently ran his fingers over a chakra burn left there by the catalystic merging of a Chidori and Rasengen. Removing his hand from the wall, he reached back and rubbed the cursed seal. He hated the thing, hated the power that it gave him, hated himself for feeling that he had needed that power. The last year had changed a lot of things.

A scraping sound brought him out of the past. He could feel it now, someone else was here. Carefully he extended his chakra to search the area. It did not take long to find the faint energy of another person. His nose flared with anger, how dare anybody invade his sanctuary. He wanted to rush up the cliff and scare the person off, but he knew that would be a stupid idea without further investigation. Once more he sent his chakra out, this time poking at the energy when he encountered it. He took a step back when he realized that there was something familiar about it, something that he could not quite place. He did discover one thing though: this other person's chakra was almost out. There was minimal danger to himself if he were to attack.

He climbed up the cliff slowly and quietly, not wanting to alert his prey. When he reached the top, he snuck into the trees and slowly approached the large carving of the First Hokage. He stopped at the edge of the forest and looked around; he could see the figure of a person standing near the edge of the cliff. Sasuke's eyes widened and he took a step back, he recognized the figure in the torn up orange clothes. He was not supposed to be here, he was only supposed to be a painful image in Sasuke's memory. Then the blonde took a step forward, making him flush with the side of the cliff. The head was looking down, the shoulders slumped in defeat. Suddenly Sasuke understood what was happening, and then Naruto started to take a step off of the edge.

With a strangled cry he ran forward, his heart tearing inside his chest. He could not let this happen, could not let Naruto die when he was just a few feet away. With a last burst of speed he managed to get his arms around the blonde's body and pulled him back onto solid ground. The black head lowered until the forehead was pressed to an orange clad shoulder, relief and fear rushing through the mind and body. He stood there for a moment, shuddering breathes escaping him. Naruto had not even tried to move. Sasuke dropped his arms away from the blond and reluctantly raised his head. After a few minutes passed, Naruto turned around.

The first thing that Sasuke noticed were the eyes, they were neither bright blue nor Kyuubi red. Instead, a violet color surrounded the silky black pupil. The face that held the eyes was blank, he did not respond in the slightest to Sasuke being there, instead there was only a void. It scared the dark-haired teen; he never would have thought that Naruto could reach this state. He reached out again, this time clasping a shoulder in each hand. He gently shook the blonde's body, trying to incite a response. When he got none, he just shook harder. A hand finally came up and pushed against Sasuke's chest weakly, trying to get him to let go. He stopped shaking Naruto then, but did not release his grip. Instead the two just stood there, black eyes clashing with violet.

The silent tears welled up once again in Naruto's eyes. He never broke the hold between Sasuke's black orbs and his discolored ones as the tears began to fall. Then his body shuddered once and he fell forward onto the raven-haired teen's chest. Arms slowly came up to encase him in warmth. Neither of them knew what to say, so they just continued to stand there. The night surrounded them, the coolness of the air brushed across their figures. Naruto shivered and the arms around him tightened. He then looked up at Sasuke again, this time his eyes were back to their normal blue. It relieved the other teen to see that color until he realized that the orbs were no longer bright with life, but instead dull with heartache and guilt. They also brought forth the feelings that Sasuke had always tried so hard to hide, to deny.

He brought his hand up and buried it in the blond hair, letting the silky strands run through his fingers. He pulled the head closer to him and gently placed a kiss on the soft lips that were waiting there. After a moment he pulled away, unsure how Naruto would react. The blonde did not say anything, nor did he make a move to return Sasuke's kiss, but he did wrap his arms around the other's waist and pull him closer. Sasuke was about to say something, anything, he just did not know what, when Naruto spoke instead, his head buried in the black-clad shoulder. "I can't go back to Konoha."

Sasuke was not sure how to respond to the sentence, unsure about what Naruto meant. His brow furrowed and he attempted to get the blond to look up at him, but Naruto refused to raise his head. A frown marred the handsome face. "Why not?"

"I did something terrible. I think that I….I might have k-killed a few Shinobi, maybe some of the villagers as well, I'm not sure." His voice was so soft that Sasuke almost did not hear it. He was not sure how to react to the words, so he simply tightened his embrace on the softly shaking body.

"Tell me."

"I can't, I don't remember much. Just that I lost control. The others were there, you know, the other members of the Rookie 9. I don't know what happened to them."

Sasuke could feel moisture soaking his shoulder. He turned and kissed the back of the head that was resting there. Words were no longer necessary, only comfort was needed now. He just held the person he had always loved and tried to fight off the worry that was shadowing the edges of his mind. He could not help but wonder what would become of Naruto now that he had lost his home, his dream, and the only friends he had ever known all in one day. The only thing that Sasuke was sure of was that he would never leave the blonde again, that he would not deny his heart any longer. At least that was what he planned to do if the other ninja would allow it. He did not know what Naruto felt when it came to him, unsure of how their parting a year ago had affected the blonde.

So he continued to stand there, arms wrapped around a tan, toned body, and his heart suspended in limbo. Then Naruto lifted his head and looked into Sasuke's eyes once again. The cerulean eyes no longer empty, bur searching. He carefully brought his hand up to the pale cheek and ran his thumb over the pink lips. Then he replaced the digit with his lips. Sasuke waited a moment before returning the light kiss, unsure if this was real. The warmth of the Naruto's body pressed against him allowed his mind to accept what was happening. Once he allowed himself to accept that it was real, he tightened his arms and cautiously ran his tongue along Naruto's lower lip. When the mouth opened he surged in, claiming everything as his. His hunger was increasing and he found himself getting greedy when Naruto began to pull away. Sasuke groaned a protest and tried to pull the blonde back. Then Naruto stiffened and he silently cursed himself and his libido for his greediness.

After he released the lips that tasted so good, he pressed a soft kiss onto Naruto's nose. Then he took a step away, letting his hand slip down the orange-clad arm and entangle itself with the other's hand. A small smile crept onto his lips as he looked at his companion. With a nod of his head, the two started walking towards the forest, leaving two forehead protectors lying in the dirt. One had a musical note etched into the metal, the other the symbol of a leaf.

"Where are we going to go?"

"I don't know, dobe (1), but we're going together."

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1: Dead last (loser)

**A/N:** Yes, another one of these things. So, what do ya'll think, I'm really interested in finding out. I'm not quite sure if I'm happy with the way it turned out; it did not follow the path that I had planned for it. Also, I'm debating whether or not to continue this, as I planned it as a one-shot, but now I have ideas for future chapters. If I was to continue, it would be about Orochimaru and ninjas' from Konoha searching for the renegade couple. Of course it would mostly be about Naruto and Sasuke's new relationship and the strain put on it by their pursuers. So anyway, tell me what you think and any ideas for future chapters are welcome (if you want the story to be continued, of course)

Wind to thy wings!

-SW


End file.
